ORANGE SODA CAKE

I continue making a memorial for the girls of my family.

Here is another great recipe that  I want to share with you.  This recipe was famous between my family and was made by my loved cousin, Felicia. She suddenly died with only 42 years old. I always remember her smile and her maternal instincts, she didn't have any children but she was a mother for her nephews.

Also, she was a great host. I lived in a different province than her, and when I came to her town I know that I would have a great time. At night she had a plan where to go, I could be to eat tacos to "Betico Mata" a very famous "soda" (as we call a small restaurant), or to dance to "Mon Rio". A famous place of the town, very old wood building that you could feel moving the floor when somebody walked around you and imagine when it is full of people dancing "salsa or merengue"... This place is still open with almost 50 years...

It is impossible to forget some angels God let us to know and loved.  So here is the recipe of the delicious cake that always was the center piece of any family party.

This cake is amazing, has a beautiful golden color, smells very very delicuios when is at the oven, and taste even better... You must try...

Enjoy...

This recipe is for a big cake. I used two pans, one of 8" and other of 10".

Ingredients

BATTER:

8 eggs, separately
3 sticks of butter
2 cups of sugar
4 cups of flour
4 teaspoons of baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup of orange soda
1 teaspoon of vanilla


FILLING:

1 can of condensed milk
5 tablespoon of lemon juice

FROSTING:

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of water
2 egg whites
5 tablespoons of lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease and flour  the pans, set aside.

For the batter
In the mixer bowl using the whisk attachment beat the egg whites until firm picks form. Set aside.

Shift the flour with the baking powder and salt.

In other mixer bowl beat butter with sugar until is fluffy and pale yellow color. Add the yolks, one by one, mixing well after each addition. Add the flour mixture alternate with the orange soda, then add the vanilla.

Using a spatula add the egg whites to the batter, in 3 parts,  and fold them until is combined and have a smooth batter.

Bake for 35-40 minuts or until the cake is golden brown or insert a toothpick and comes clean.

Let it cool completely before filling and frosting.

For the filling
Mix the condensed milk with the lemon juice until it makes thick. If you have problems to get the right consistency, put it at the microvawe fon 40 seconds in intervals of 10 seconds. until it is thick enough.

For the frosting
In small pot at the stuff bring to boil the sugar with water, without stirring, until is well disolved and with a spoon make some long "thread", about 5 minuts.

Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until firm picks form and with the mixer runing add the sugar in a fine drizzle until is well combined, then add the lemon juice.

ONION TART

This month of August in Costa Rica we celebrate  "Mother's Day" So I decided to make a memorial for the  wonderful mothers that we have in our family. So I started with one of my mother's sister, "tia (aunt) Elida" she was a very sweet, very elegant women, friendly and a excelent cook. I remember to go to her house for vacation and stayed there for a few days because she pampered me a lot.
One of her famous recipes is this "Onion Tart". It is more like a quiche, but it is delicious, is creamy. It can't be better way to remember and honor her.

Here is her picture that my cousin Hernan sent to me. As you can see, she was beautiful, elegant, with a sophisticated style.

We love you, "tia" and always you will be in our hearts...

Here is the recipe, I hope you enjoy as much as I did..



 

 


Ingredients


FOR THE PASTRY:

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
12 tablespoons  cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup ice water



                                                                  FOR THE FILLING:


4 tablespoons of butter
4 cups of sweet onion, coarse chopped
4 tablespoon of celery, fine chopped
4 slices of bacon
1/2 tablespoon of "complete sazon" Badia
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
4 eggs (separately)
1/4 teaspoon of salt


Directions

For the pastry, place the flour,salt and sugar in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Pulse a few seconds to combine. add the butter and pulse 10 to 12 times until butter is in small bits. With the motor running, pour the ice water until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven 350.

Roll the dough and place it onto a 9 inch pie or tart pan. Carefully press down and cut the excess. Bake until is a little brown, cook it half way, because you have to put in the oven again. Let it cool. Set aside.

On a medium pot cook the onion with the butter until is tender. Add the rest of ingredients, except the eggs, and cook for a few minutes more.  Set aside to cool complete.

Beat the whites eggs until form firm picks, add the yolks and salt and beat until is well combine.

Fold the cold onion mixture with the beaten eggs and pour onto the prepared cooked dough.

Bake for 25 minutes or until is golden brown.

SALTED CARAMEL BROWNIES

The school vacations almost finish and my daughter, Carolina with only 8 years old was at the kitchen baking, cooking and learning to decorate cakes. She is so sweet and dedicate to the kitchen as I never see a kid of this small age to be. She can surprise me with a breakfast in bed, with muffins she made, watching a video in Youtube, or a pork chops for lunch, following a Foodnetwork recipe.


Today I want to share this delicious, chewy  recipe that she made and our family enjoy so much, because taste great and I know it was made with love and enthusiasm that add more flavor to it.


Here is the recipe, I hope you can do it and enjoy it too.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, cubed
1 (4 ounces) bars semisweet chocolate, chopped
6 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vainilla extract
20 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
sea salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour. Line pan with parchment paper, allowing excess to extend over sides of pan; spray parchment with baking spray.

In a medium microwave-safe bowl, combine buter and cocolate. Microwave on high, in 30 second intervals, stirrring between each, until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes total.

In a large bowk, beat eggs, sugar, and salt with a mixer at high speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Add flour, cocoa, vainilla, and chocolate mixture, beating to combine. Stir in caramels, Spread batter in prepared pan.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with sea salt, let cool completely in pan on a wire rack.

Using the excess parchment paper as a handles, lift brownies out of pan, and cut into squares. Store in airtight containers for up to 3 days.

GLUTEN-FREE WALNUT CARROT CAKE WITH COCONUT CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Now you can hear that more and more people are allergic to the gluten, (Gluten is a substance present in cereal grains, especially wheat, that is responsible for the elastic texture of dough. A mixture of two proteins, it causes illness in people with celiac disease.). During the time that I teach cake decorating one of my students is celiac, and she had to learn how to bake a cake that she can eat and also taste good, because the absence of gluten the texture of the cake is heavy, dry, it doesn't have the fluffy and light texture you can find in regular cake, thanks to the gluten.

I felt curiosity in this kind of cake, because my passion is to bake and part of my job too, that I bought a gluten free cake recipe book, but each cake need a lot of different flours, with weird names and difficult to find, so I decided not to make any of that recipes.

But my husband bought a tablet and it has an app about recipes and I started checking them and I found a gluten free desserts...mmm call my attention.. and it has a Carrot cake... good is exactly what I am looking.... read the ingredients, I have everything, nothing special,, so "hand to bake"... the result... the most delicious cake, moist, great texture that everybody at my family love it.... also I made the frosting, very good but for my taste very very sweet... but at the end I have a winner.... gluten free cake... Here is the recipe, I hope you can try it and enjoy a delicious gluten free cake...

Happy baking.

Ingredients


For the cake

4 eggs, divided and at room temperature
2 eggs whites, at room temperature
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 1/2 cup shredded carrot (4 medium)
1  20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drained and squeezed dry
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnut pieces
1 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

For the filling

8 oz. cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup butter, soft
1 (1lb) box confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

Heat the oven to 375 F with rack in the center position. Grease two 8 inch round cake pans, (I prefer to use a spray with flour and grease): set aside.
Combine egg yolks with  brown sugar in a medium bowl and beat on high speed 2-3 minutes until very thick  and pale in color. Fold in shredded carrot, pineapple and vanilla extract; set aside.

 Pulse walnut pieces in a food processor until finely ground. Add cornstarch, baking soda, salt and spices; pulse to combine and set aside.

Beat egg whites and cream tartar in a large bowl until foamy. Slowly whisk in sugar and beat whites until stiff and glossy. Fold walnut mixture gently into whites, then fold blended whites gently into carrot mixture.
Spread mixture evenly in prepared pans and bake 20-25 minutes until cakes are lightly browned and have pulled away slightly from the sides of the pans. Allow cakes to cool 30-45 minutes in the pans. Run a knife around the edges of cakes to loosen from pan, and invert onto a wire rack.

Beat the cream cheese and butter in a medium bowl until well-blended. Slowly beat in confectioner's sugar and vanilla. Place one cake round on stand or serving dish and spread 3/4 cup of frosting evenly over surface, leaving a 1/2 inch border around edges. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup of coconut and press lightly into the filling to set. Top with second layer, using remaining frosting to cover surface and sides of cake. Press remaining coconut evenly around sides and over top cake. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

TIP: If the frosting is to soft, chill it at the refrigerator for about 5-10 minutes before filling and frosting the cake.

SWEET CORN CAKE WITH GUAVA PASTE

Some days ago I found a post in Facebook about a Corn Cake with guava paste recipe. It called my attention and immediately I started to prepared it.

 

The recipe is from a website called: "Cocina Costarricense" (Costa Rican Cuisine). This website has a lot of recipes from Costa Rica, that are so delicious, easy to make and show the way we cook in this little country of Centro America, Costa Rica.

 

This cake is so easy to make, that you don't need a measure cups, you only need a can of sweet corn and use the same can to measure the rest of ingredients, fools proof.  It doesn't matter the size of the can you cake will be perfect. You decide how big or small cake you want.

 

Now, here is the recipe

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

1 can of sweet corn drained

1 can of sugar*

1 can of milk*

1 can of all purpose flour*

1/2 can of vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of baking powder

Little pieces of guava paste

1 tablespoon of all purpose flour

 

*use the same can of the corn

 

Directions

 

Preheat the oven 350 and grease a pan.

 

Put all the ingredients in the blender, except the baking powder, until have a smooth batter. Add the baking powder and just blend until is incorporated, not over mix.

 

In a small container, put the guava paste, cut in small pieces, and add  the flour to cover very well the guava paste.

 

Pour the batter into a prepared pan and put softly the guava pieces over the batter.

 

Bake for 45 minutes until the toothpick comes clean and the cake is golden brown.

 

The texture of the cake is very similar to a cheesecake but firmer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



HOMEMADE BREAD (PAN CASERO)

Homemade bread or Pan Casero as we call it in Costa Rica is very popular. It is a soft, fluffy bread with a touch of sweetness that allow to eat with butter and jelly, or in this case filled with cream cheese and guava jelly, and of course with a fresh brewed black coffee.

This bread has a very particular flavor of the yeast and the amount of sugar on it make a sweet bread that you can not stop eat it. It is a bread with a soft flavor that you can put on it butter, jelly, honey, cream cheese, even a slice of yellow american cheese, ham or mortadela. Make your own choice and enjoy...

Some days ago I was looking at Facebook's posts, and called my attention of photo of a brown, water mouth home bread (pan casero) that my cousin Edith posted that I couldn't resist to asked her for the recipe. 

 

PAN CASERO

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter
2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 tablespoon of yeast
3 eggs
2.2 lb  (1 kg) of all purpose flour
3 ounces cream cheese
guava paste
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of sugar

Directions

Melt the butter. Put aside.

Heat the milk and the sugar at the microwave until it reached a 120 temperature.
Pour the melt butter and mix.

Transfer the milk mixture to a big bowl, add the yeast and stir until is well combine.

In a small bowl, using a fork beat the eggs just to break the yolks and combine.

Add the eggs to the milk yeast mixture and stir until is well combine.

In one addition, add all the flour. With a wooden spoon, mix all the flour with the milk until you have a soft, sticky dough.

Cover with a clean towel and let to rise to double the size. Put the bowl in the off oven and turn on only the light to heat the oven enough the dough can rise. It can take a 1 1/2 or 2 hours.

 

When the dough has risen put it on a floured surface and cut 2 ounces pieces to make a ball. Flatten it and  fill with a little piece of the cream cheese and guava paste. Close to make a ball again and put seam down onto a grease baking sheet.

In a small bowl melt the butter at the microwave and add the sugar. With a pastry brush, paint the bread.

Turn your oven to 170 and put the baking sheet with the bread and let to rise again for 15 to 20 minutes until it double the size.

Without removing the bread from the oven, put the temperature to 350 and bake it for 25 minutes or until is golden brown.

CRANBERRY RICE PUDDING

For a cold day nothing better that a warm dessert, like a rice pudding with a special touch of orange zest and cranberries, perfect after a delicious dinner to warm the soul.

This is another recipe that I modified. Originally was with cherries, but I am a cranberry fan so I decided to change it. Looking at my pantry I found a bottle of Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, that I bought in December, and I thought it will be a good flavor for the rice..
but also I made it with regular vanilla or a bean vanilla and the result is very good too.

Because I like the rice pudding white as possible I put the cloves and cinnamon in a Stainless Steal Tea Ball Infuser, or also you can use a coffee filter. You put the species into the coffee filter and tie it to hold the spices. When you rice is ready put away the filter and you have a white rice with the flavor of the spices.

CRANBERRY RICE PUDDING

 Ingredients

2 cups of milk
1 1/2 cups of water
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 tablespoon of sugar
5 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
2/3 cup dried cranberries
3 tablespoons of heavy cream
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 orange zest
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
ground nutmeg, for garnish, optional

Directions

In a medium pot, put the rice, water, milk, and sugar. Bring to boiled on medium heat. Stir to prevent to stick to the bottom of the pot.

Cover and cook until the rice is tender.

In a bowl pour the condensed milk with a half of water to dilute it. Set aside.

Add to the rice the cranberries, heavy cream and cooked for a 10 minutes stirring frequently until the pudding thickens slightly.

Add the condensed milk mixture to the rice and stir until is well combined. Cook for a minute. If it is to thick you can add more milk, as desired.

Turn the heat off and add the vanilla. Serve into individual bowls and garnish with nutmeg.